Notes / Commercial Description:
We first released this decidedly indelicate beer in 2012, as Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our belovedly bitter Stone Ruination IPA. Stone RuinTen IPA uses the same recklessly hoppy recipe as the 2012 release; only the name has changed, as we plan to unleash this belligerently delicious hop monster upon the public annually from now on. We packed a whopping five pounds of hops into each barrel, and cranked up the ABV to stand up to the hop onslaught. The results are glorious, and we know you'll rejoice in tasting this audacious gem of hoppy splendor once again. You're welcome.

S: Very assertive, bright citrus nose. Pine, lemon, grapefruit. Progresses to some sweeter notes, a little tangerine perhaps on the back end.

T: Aggressive, sharp hop tartness on the tongue. Aggressive might not be a strong enough word. A little sting even in cheeks here. Hop favlor initially dominated by the pine much more so than in the aroma. Citrus elements seem to get muddled. It does mellow a bit as it warms up to let some of the more subtle elements come out, but not a ton. Very light sweetness creeps in behind the hop onslaught, abruptly chased by a drying alcohol astringency. Really dries out and leaves a long lingering bitterness on the palate.

M: Interesting. Shows only the faintest bit of heft for a beer of nearly 11%. Pretty highly attenuated, which contributes to the tongue-stripping dryness. It does make you want to keep drinking, if for no other reason than to keep lubricated.

O: I really wanted to love this. But in the end, it is really just "really good" and not "excellent". It's certainly in the Ruination camp of DIPAs in that it makes little to no effort to achieve balance of malt backbone. It is worth the experience but not the greatness example I'd say. Fits into Stone's character and story perfectly though.

Opened it up, poured it in a glass(nice look), put my nose to it and BOOM, this huge blast of citrus just invaded my nostrils and blasted my senses like a shotgun. Had to taste it. Wow soooo strong(10.8 alc vol.) damn that has a lot of flavor. very much a pineapple and grapefruit and some flavor i couldnt get my finger on. definitely not a beer that i felt like shooting down quick, in fact it took me some time to finish because of how darn strong it was but i enjoyed it, left a nice taste in my mouth.

Orange with an off-white head that sticks around for a bit. Smells of pine and citrus. Enticing. Tastes very much of citrus and pine. Very powerful. Nice bitter hop flavor. Big grapefruit flavor. Medium full mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Great IPA, but a touch boozy..

A: Pours a murky apricot color with just under 1 fingers width of slightly off white head, which takes a fair amount of time to dissipate down. Leaves a mild degree of spotty lacing.

S: Huge citrus hop aromas with tons of pineapple and orange, along with lots of malty sweetness. Some dank hop aromas as it warms but I would have appreciated more piney, resinous, dank hop characters. These DIPAs brewed with citra hops tend to come off overly sweet and unbalanced in my opinion.

T: The flavor is a different story. Better balance on the tongue, with tons of bitterness to balance out the sweetness. Still has some citrus characters, but the bitterness is huge! I love it. Citrus upfront, with a palate wrecking bitterness on the finish. I get lemon zest, grapefruit, pine, some boozy alcohol. Im impressed by the bitterness here for two reasons. One (and I may be speaking blasphemy here) but from what I remember I didn't find the original Ruination to be as palate wrecking as advertised, and two it seems like most DIPAs Ive had recently have migrated towards the malty side of the spectrum. This is a nice, bitter, change. Very tasty beer here.

M/D: Clean mouthfeel, not sticky at all, medium bodied with a big drying character. Even with a modest carbonation it still has a big biting quality to it due to the bitterness. Drinkability remains surprisingly high and the huge ABV is kept in check very well.

O: Overall, a really well done brew that I thoroughly enjoyed. There are a lot of great DIPAs out there, and I can't consider it amongst the best. But its certainly a very well done beer that I recommend to any hophead. Stone consistently produces top notch beers, and for my money their selection of hoppy beers can rival anyones.

So I decide to compare a regular ruination to the ten year anniversary.

Let's start with the pour.
Original is a warm amber orange in color beer. The ten is much dark orange and even foggier.
Like comparing apple juice to a cider. Later on I noticed that the regular ruination kept a head longer then the 10th anniversary.

Smell
Both have a very distinct grapefruit and herbal aroma
The ten yr has a lot more citrus. Like lemon and orange.

Taste
Original is very bitter and sharp with a clean finish.
The ten yr is not as bitter. Dont get me wrong, it is still bitter but it seems to have flavors similar to an oaked ale with the citrusNess of ruination.

Overall
If you enjoy the regular ruination then I feel that you will like this one.

S-Nose is absolutely loaded with unbelievably concentrated notes of grapefruit and pine. Caramel malt is also very hefty. Such a heavy nose. Balanced; more so than I expected. More resinous than the original Ruination but less bright and fruity. Booze masked perfectly.

T-A hop haymaker. Like a grapefruit in a pine-woven jacket. More tropical than the nose. Exotic fruits and plenty of hop resin. Malt is rich. Lots of caramel, but the other aspects of the malt are hard to define because the hops are resoundingly muscular. Booze is still masked beautifully but it does warm up the throat and cheeks. This is a giant of a DIPA.

M-Resinous! Full bodied. Bitter and dry and bitter and dry and BITTER… Those hops coat the tongue and even rise from the dead when I burp. Palate is coated in hop oil. Sticky with spritzy carbonation.

O/D-Stone did the 10th very well. It is truly is hard to say which Ruination I prefer. The original is a bit more exotic in flavor while the Anniversary is somehow even more brash and brazen. Both are incredible. Damn, now I need to go get a bottle of the original Ruination to compare. An absolute success with the 10th.

Taste is, unsurprisingly, quite bitter. Lots of citrus, mainly grapefruit. A surprisingly large amount of caramel malt. Some booze, but not as much as one would expect given the abv. Actually surprisingly smooth!

A: A bright, hazy orange. Nice head on the initial pour and fantastic lacing. Almost sparkles.

S: Wow. Great stuff here. Piney resin is subtle with some huge tropical notes and hints of grapefruit. As it warms, the alcohol comes out and there is a bit of booziness.

T: Giant hops. Pure Stone through and through. But also I'm surprised by how drinkable it is. Goes down smooth for a DIPA. Easily top three DIPAs I've had. No question.

M: It's not syrupy but there is some heft there. And, this beer really covers your entire palate - it hits all the notes.

O: The best one-off DIPA I've had. Hands down. There are seasonal releases that top it, but in terms of a 'celebration' beer, nothing I've tasted comes close. Stone continues its traditon of continually raising the bar. Excellent.

Paid a bit more than I wanted (10 bucks) but this in no way harshed my expectations.

A - Very no filtered look with a hazy light amber body and plenty of carbonation (kind of strong pour) got me a full inch of head and nice sticky lacing.

S - Like other said the expected strong grapefruit and pine hops one would expect in ruination just doubled. Malts are amazing with sugar like gram cracker goodness.

T - What I liked best about this was how balanced it was. Hiding the ABV is something I enjoy with big DIPA's and this one had plenty of hop bitterness to do that. The malts do a wonderful job giving some sweet gram cracker body that keeps it from truly ruining your palate. Hops in the finish, I love it.

M - Medium to heavy but man drinkability is excellent.

Overall the bottle went rather quickly and it packed a good buzz. Not sure if I would prefer it to fresh ruination but for the style it was sublime.

Poors a sloudy and hazed copper tinted amber, small cap of cream colored head, decent retention and lacing, wanted more from a big bad dIPA. Scent is a huge rush of grapefruit juice and pine resin, firm caramel, sugary and lightly toasted malt presence. Big bold and bitter taste leads with citrus rind and juice, strong pine resin, lightly floral. Malts are larger than expected, lots of brown sugar, light caramel and light toast, slight boozyness. Fuller side of medium bodied, dry and lingering bittermess. Overall, the hops are almost over the top and the malt comes through a little too sweet, felt like i was drinking a fresh hoppy American Barleywine over a dIPA.

The beer is orange with an inch of dense, white head. Plenty of sticky lacing left on the side of the glass. The aroma is large and in charge. Pine, grapefruit, malt, booze. An in your face beer from Stone. The flavor is a bit hot, with pine, malt, and booze, followed by lighter notes of citrus. Caramel malts lead the way for some subtle grapefruit tartness. Medium to full bodied and sticky on the palate.. Overall, this is really tasty, but not something I would consume in quantity. Indeed, this is a palate ruiner.

22 oz bomber pours a cloudy medium amber with fantastic fluffy head that won't go away! Aroma is heavy resinous hops with orange peel, lemon, and grapefruit, with cotton candy. Taste is a bit syrupy on the malt, which is neccessary to balance the massive citrus-pine oily hops. Alcohol is well-hidden for a 10.8% brew. Smooth mouthfeel, a bit wet on the finish, aftertaste begs for another sip.
Overall this is a nice a very nice DIPA - it suffers somewhat from the malt-over-sweetness required to carry the hops. I prefer regular Ruination - sometimes "supersized" does not equal better.

Smell is floral hops and a strong melony sweet malt aroma. I like the combination, but the hops aren't as dominant as I'd expect in a beer the brewery touts as over-the-top. The hops I do get are rather juicy and citrusy.

Taste is similar to the smell, followed by a dose of bitterness that's below what I was anticipating. It's big and sweet, definitely balanced, tipping towards malty. Lots of fruity flavors come through, a blend of the hops and the sweetness of the malts. Melon, oranges, a touch of tropical fruit. Decently tasty. Alcohol is obvious, but doesn't detract much from the flavor. Finishes, hmm, bitter, I suppose, but not exactly palate-ruining.

Good mouthfeel - big, sticky, carbonation on the low end. Not bad, not particularly memorable.

I dunno, maybe I'm spoiled, living in the land of Abrasive. This is a good DIPA, but nothing about it wowed me. Definitely on the malty side, not surprising at almost 11%. But the hops were not showcased particularly well, IMO.

Appearance: Slight haze to this golden-orange pour. Bone white head with very nice retention and lacing, especially considering the abv.

Smell: Big sweet and hoppy. Distinctive citra aromas with lots of tropical fruit (and a hint of cat pee). Citrus and weedlike hops aromas second to the tropical fruit. There's a sweet pale malty aroma that tells me this is a big one, but I don't smell booze. Quite good.

Taste: A great combinaton of fruity hops flavor and unapologetic bitter bite. Nice "balance" from the malty sweetness. A delicious beer.

Mouthfeel: Feels like a big beer. Some might wish it dried out a bit more, but I like a little stickiness in a DIPA. Feels creamy and soft, ends with a medium-heavy malt stickiness and some hops resin.

Overall: Very well executed DIPA. I'd buy this as a seasonal for sure.

Hazy dark orange body; sizeable white head that settles slowly; strong creamy lacing. Nice overall appearance. Hops come out and smack you in the face in the aroma; grapefruit rinds, pine and resinous notes are plentiful and aggressive. Quite dank!

The flavor packs all of that; grapefruit and other citrus fruits; pine, and resin, as well as a noticeable onion/garlic note and a tongue-lashing bitterness that lingers for a long time in the aftertaste. Very little in the way of a malt presence; a faint caramel sweetness dries up in the finish and is totally overwhelmed by the assertive hop bitterness. Booze is fairly well masked but you feel it after you finish the bottle.

Medium bodied, medium carbonation, smooth and a little sticky. An tasty but over-the-top hop bomb to be sure. Not for the faint of heart. Big time flavor, lacks any subtlety. Aggressive and in your face.

Picked this up a few days ago at City Swaggers in NYC. 22 oz. bottle poured into my Bell's tulip.

a - Pours a deep, hazy orange-amber color with one and a half fingers of fluffy off white head and moderate carbonation evident. Head lasts for about two minutes and leaves some spotty lacing on the glass.

t - Tastes of fruity malts, citrus hops, oranges, grapefruit, pine hops, and lemon. Moderate to high bitterness. Not quite as hoppy as the nose, but still quite nice.

m - Medium body and moderate carbonation. Smooth and moderate to high bitterness in the taste.

o - Overall a very good DIPA. I find the normal Ruination a good DIPA, though not my favorite, and I find this one very similar, except a little more orange/citrus and hops in the nose, and more bitterness in the mouthfeel and taste. A good beer; if you like the normal Ruination you'll probably love this one, if you don't then I would pass on it as it is very similar.

A - Pours a light, hazy orange. Pretty much the same hue as regular 'ole Ruination... but a little more translucent. Virtually zero head to speak of, some lacing with whatever small amount of head there was to begin with.

S - Hops, hops, sticky dank hops. Grapefruit, orange, pine, and a little bit of straw. The heavy malt character present in the taste is conspicuously absent from the nose.

T - Unsurprisingly, like the nose, this is a full-on hop assault to start out. Seriously bitter hops are definitely overwhelming... and then a curious thing happens. Strong, sweet malt comes through. Sweet caramel and bready grains balance it all out into a nice clean (extremely dry) finish.

M - Not as much carbonation as I'd hope for, but I suppose that's not out of the ordinary for the style. Just personal preference on this one, I suppose. Thick, syrupy, and mouth-coating with an extraordinarily dry finish.

O - Delicious. I really hope Stone decides to produce this one again at some point. Hop-forward, surprisingly balanced, and is easy-drinking(ish) for the massive ABV it sports.

A: Pours out a traditional DIPA orange color. It's slightly hazy. One finger of off white head. Sticks around a while. Nice carbonation. Leaves some lacing as you sit and sip on it. In drinking for a while, that haze was chill haze. Nice clear dark orange color now.

S: Still have lots of tropical fruit aroma coupled with piney notes. I am get that mango and papaya. Maybe the age is showing with some malt coming through but it's faint.

T: Having this with spicy sushi isn't doing it justice. My palate is crushed, but there is still some intense bitterness on the tip of the tongue. I am getting those tropical hop varietals. Also some orange marmalade like character when it meets the malts that are there. This bitterness sticks through the whole sip, as mid palate is almost pulsing with it. The finish is bitter and dry with reminders of pine lingering. This does not taste like a 10+ ABV beer at all. Amazing.

Had this on tap at Hair of the Dog in St. Louis. Great pour; big, 3 finger head, even with the bartender knowing how to pour. The best lacing and retention I've seen outside of a stout.

Smell was huge hops floral. Taste was surprisingly balanced with the extreme hop profile equaled by an impressive malt bill. Starts and finishes with a solid bitter hops flavor, but in between, the malt flavor profile provides a sweetness and balance I haven't seen in a DIPA. Drinks suspiciously easy for the 10.8% ABV, and is sticky and thick on the palate.

Overall, a great DIPA. I haven't had regular Ruination, but I need to try it to get a solid baseline.

Poured from bottle, which I picked up on the first day it was available in the Bay Area, into tulip glass.

A: Hazy, peachy amber color. Decent head that slowly recedes leaving very fine lace at the edge of the glass.

N: Heavy on the hops with a malt character to prop it up. Dank citrus & pine followed by a heavy, syrupy sweet note.

T/M: Taste follows the nose with absolutely resinous citrus qualities that never fully give way to a malty sweetness. The mouthfeel is medium, approaching heavy, but not particularly as thick as what I would expect from a beer that breaches 10%ABV. The heat remains a bit masked from the powerful hop qualities. Despite being very hoppy this does not really hint at garlic & onion flavors, which is a big success in my book.

This is a great tribute to the original destroyer of pallets! Obviously, I like the flavors of this one better than the original, although this may just be due to the effects of a gloriously heavy handed dry-hopping. Very tasty, Stone! You do hops pretty well, and I think most of us hop heads would have to thank you for popularizing the Imperial IPA style!

Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IIPA is a nice looking golden color with some slight bronze tint to it. A nice frothy white foam that builds and leaves some gunk on the glass. Smell is pretty bright and heavenly laden with crisp citrus, orange, grapefuit, other citra brought scents. Some resinous pine with some bubblegum backing. The pale malt is there yet is not detracting. At six weeks in, this is a stellar version of an all ready hopped up DIPA. Bright citrus, orange, papaya, grapefruit. The bubblegum is sweet, the malt brings forth sugars balancing stuff out yet not killing the buzz. Bitter, yes, malt backing, yes, delicious, yes. The body is a step above medium ,resinous, piney and large. Carb is there pricking the tounge. I wish it did not take 6-7 weeks to get over here, but even with a bit of age this is one I would go back to, if I could find another bottle.

Pours a clear golden orange with two finger fluffy off white head. Aroma is of massive pine notes and raw hops. Some caramel malt and booze linger in then nose. I could smell this from the bottle immediately after breaking this one open. Hops dominate the palate from front to back. Piney hops are at the forefront. Incredible hop bitterness coats the mouth and lingers. I will be tasting hops for a week or so. Alcohol is almost undetectable. Is there balance here? No, not really. Is that what Stone was shooting for? No. This is just a hopheads delight and the raw bitterness that Stone managed to get in this bottle is insane. A must try for any IPA lover.